Posts Tagged ‘economy’

When you lie, you either have to take it to the grave, or you fess up when you’re caught. In the case of Mitsubishi, it looks like they are not at the forefront of a fuel mileage scandal that stretches all the way back to 1991.

The issue came to light when Nissan found fuel economy inconsistencies in some of their tiny kei-class cars which were made by Mitsubishi. When Mitsubishi was confronted, they fessed up about the fuel economy issue and said it might impact as much as 625,000 vehicles. US regulators are now in on the investigation as well and requested data from Mitsubishi to confirm the accuracy of the fuel economy numbers stated for the vehicles sold in the US.

The numbers on fuel consumption is typically calculated with a formula which takes into account driving resistance which is based on a coasting test determined by Japan’s Road Transport Vehicle Act. What Mitsubishi has done is have their engineers create their own “high-speed coasting test”. Much later in 2007 Mitsubishi decided to stick to Japan’s mandated testing protocol. However, in pockets of the company, engineers continued to use the old approach which introduces inconsistent standards in the calculation of fuel mileage.

So far, Mitsubishi has only admitted to incorrect fuel economy data on their minicars. However, the investigation is only seeing the minicars as a starting point and many more leafs will be turned over in this comprehensive review.

Many car manufacturers today are incorporating an automatic start-stop technology into their vehicles to help stretch fuel economy. When the car comes to a full stop, the engine will shut off to conserve fuel during idle times.

Ford is planning to put this same technology into their F-150 pickups which currently get 19 mpg city and 26 mpg highway. Come 2017, all F-150s with the turbocharged EcoBoost engines will get this technology as a standard feature which is estimated to boost economy by 7 percent in the city. Ford doesn’t plan to stop there. With fuel economy being a huge decision point for the consumers, Ford plans to incorporate the auto start-stop technology into their other models.

We got a brief reprieve from $1.30/L gas prices when oil tanked (zing), but less than a month later we’re nearly back to where we started. Alberta may be oil country, but that doesn’t mean people are willing to get bent over at the pump forever. We still love our V8s (and always will), but it’s starting to make more and more sense to pick up a more efficient commuter. It’s not just gas prices, but an entire culture of eco-friendliness which is driving the push for efficient vehicles elsewhere in North America. Consumers are demanding green cars and the manufacturers are being forced to respond. Hybrids and electrics are stealing the headlines right now, but North America is also seeing a reemergence of the sub-compact segment which hasn’t had much hold here in over a decade. While Canadian sales of sedans like the Camry, Accord and Fusion dropped from 2013 to 2014, we saw double digit increases for small cars like the Accent, Fit, Yaris and Mirage.

Of course, not everybody wants a tiny hatchback, and a lot of people require more capable vehicles, which means going with something larger and, usually, far less efficient. Luckily for them, manufacturers are being pressured to increase efficiency across their entire range. CAFE regulations, which penalize manufacturers whose fleet doesn’t meet a minimum fuel efficiency requirement, have raised the bar for small passenger cars by over 40% since 2005. They will continue increasing it by another 5% annually until 2025 where they’ll mandate 60 mpg. This means that car makers don’t just need to offer a fuel efficient car to those who want one, they need to increase the efficiency of their entire line-up or pay significant penalties. Now technically CAFE only applies to cars built in the United States, but Canadian Environmental Protection Act was recently amended to include very similar provisions for cars built here.

In New York, we ran into the Chevrolet Cruze. It has gone through a facelift and has be shorn with the corporate face that you see on the Malibu and Impala. Can’t say it is exciting, but it isn’t ugly either. It looks like a good compact economy car that would be suited to a student or someone who just graduated.

The interior is standard Chevrolet fair. Available is Siri integration, LTE OnStar and a Wifi hotspot.

A Diesel engine is available that GM claims is more efficient than the comparable VW TDI model.

2008 has been a crazy rollercoaster ride for the world. This year we saw oil prices reach nearly $150 per barrel and matching prices at the pump. Sales for sub compact cars like the Smart Car and Prius jumped while truck sales took a huge nosedive. Now, just on the eve of 2009 oil prices have retreated by over $100 and gas prices are at the lowest point in recent memory as the world enters a recession. The world financial machine has ground to a halt despite the efforts of various Governments around the world pumping in financial aid.

This year we saw China host the Olympics which many people saw as China’s chance to step onto the world stage and be recognized as a world leader ahead of the almighty United States of America. Speaking of the USA, they elected the first Black President, Barack Obama. Obama will be taking over a nation in desperate need of change in early January. 2009 will be an interesting year indeed.

Beyond has also gone through a lot of changes this year and we’re looking forward to 2009 as we continue to build and add services for all of our members. Despite a lot of rumors on the site, perhaps fueled by a few of the moderators and administrators, Beyond has NOT been sold to anybody. We have entered into an agreement for content sharing and advertising sales with Canwest. What this means for us is that we will be able to provide the latest automotive news to you in a more timely fashion, create a large video library with the latest car reviews and previews and some other treats we can’t share until they are ready. The user experience both on our blog and forums will be improved with our increased access to fresh content from the Canwest network. At the very least, we’ll see less ads for breast augmentation and more automotive related advertising.

Way too many hilarious moments occured in 2008 and it simply would have been impossible to do a thorough review of 2008 so with that, I’m off to get ready for New Years celebrations and I hope everyone has a great night ringing in the new year by celebrating with friends and family and look forward to a great 2009! Happy New Year!

The first Thanksgiving day after Canadian Confederation was back in 1872 and it didn’t become an annual event until 1879. At this point, Thanksgiving day was announced each year based on what important event there was to be thankful for. The actual day and theme of Thanksgiving was changed year to year. Finally, in 1957 the Canadian Government set the day of and theme for the Thanksgiving holiday.

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October”.

Forget about the world economy, money and investments. For this Thanksgiving long weekend go spend time with people you care about and be thankful for what you have and for those you have around you. Remember, there are people that are lucky if they even eat at all this weekend, let alone enjoy a huge feast.

In this weekly segment, we cover the top discussions going on in the automotive forums. These threads may be the most recent hot topics, or epic threads that we just wanted to dig up and feature.

If you have a suggestion for a thread to be included on the forum weekly review, e-mail it to info@beyond.ca. If you have not joined our forums, register today its free!

The Official How Are You Saving Money Thread
The economy is going down the drain, and the sky is falling. Banks are dropping like flies and the TSX has dropped below 11,000 points for the first time in a couple years. What are you doing as the economy slows down? Are you putting more money away into a savings account? Do you have a rainy day fund? Have you changed your spending habits? Sold that new BMW? Share what you’ve done to save money!

National Do Not Call List Registration / Complaint Website Launched
The Canadian National Do Not Call List was officially launched this week. About 75 – 80% of Canadians are expected to register their numbers for inclusion on the list and if the traffic volumes to the website on the first day were any indication, that number looks to be about right. For most of the day the website could not handle the amount of traffic hitting it, but eventually it became functional again and I was able to register all my numbers. Unfortunately, the list does have too many exceptions by allowing charities, political parties, newspapers, companies you’ve done business with and companies you’ve given written permission allowing them to do so will still be able to call you.

The Other Debate… yeah, the Canadian Leaders Debate
Most televisions (even Canadian) were tuned into the VP debate on most US networks when the English Canadian Leaders Debate was televised. I’ll admit, the US election is far more interesting than the Canadian one. So here I am doing my part to draw attention to the election here in Canada by devoting one of the weekly threads to the Canadian Leader Debate.